News Briefs

Photonics.comDec 2005Susanne Lotzsch was appointed director of marketing communications at Rofin-Baasel Lasertech in Starnberg, Germany, where she has worked for five years. . . . 3M announced it will build an LCD optical film manufacturing facility in Wroclaw, Poland, on land it will buy near its existing manufacturing plant, about 340 kms from 3M's offices in Warsaw. The company said the new plant will bring it closer to its customers, such as LG Philips LCD. In the last few years, 3M has expanded its facilities in Menomonie, Wis., and Decatur, Ala., in the US and has built new facilities in Kansai, Japan; Suzhou, China; Tainan, Taiwan; and Hwaseong and Naju, Korea. 3M's Vikuiti brand optical films are used to make LCD TVs. . . . Keithley Instruments Inc., a Cleveland-based maker of advanced electrical test instruments and systems, announced that Linda C. Rae is now its executive vice president and chief operating officer and Stephen A. Chipchase was named vice president, operations. Rae has formerly senior vice president and general manager. . . . David H. Sliney, PhD, manager of the US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine Laser/Optical Radiation Program at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., received the 24th Arthur L. Schawlow Award from the Laser Institute of America (LIA) at ICALEO 2005 (International Congress on Applications of Lasers & Electro-Optics), which was held in October. The LIA said Sliney's work was the driving force behind rational science-based international laser safety standards, and that afety levels found in contemporary standards resulted in part from his efforts as a member of various committees involved in establishing standards for exposure to laser radiation, ultraviolet radiation, and visible and infrared radiation, resulting in the first ANSI Z136.1 standard in 1973. . . . Laserscope, a San Jose, Calif.-based manufacturer of minimally invasive medical lasers and advanced fiber-optic delivery devices, announced that Robert Pearson will resign from its board, effective in March.